Blunt dissection and tissue elevation instrument

Abstract

A handheld medical instrument designed for efficient, atraumatic blunt tissue dissection and / or elevation during surgery. The instrument generally comprises an elongated shaft having a cottonoid or similar disposable dissection device at one or both ends. Attachment to the cottonoid may be direct or the shaft may include grasping constructs designed to grasp the cottonoid or to grasp a support structure which is attached to the dissection device. The devices may have reusable components or may be disposable.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)[0001]This application is a Continuation-in-Part (CIP) of U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11 / 758,726, filed Jun. 6, 2007 and now abandoned which in turn claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 821,327 filed Aug. 3, 2006. This application further claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 821,327 filed Aug. 3, 2006. The entire disclosure of all the above documents is herein incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a surgical device for use in blunt tissue elevation and / or dissection such as in cranial, spine, cervical, abdominal, thoracic, lumbar, endoscopic, laparoscopic, and other types of surgery.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]In many types of surgery it is necessary to remove or displace tissue in order to perform a procedure. Often, this is to improve a surgeon's vision in an area of interest where more ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014]Because of these and other reasons known to those of ordinary skill in the art, disclosed herein, among other things, is a handheld medical instrument designed for efficient, atraumatic blunt tissue dissection and / or elevation during surgery. This device generally provides for improved functionality and visibility over makeshift devices previously used for this task.

Problems solved by technology

In many situations, however, they are preferably not used as should the cutting instrument slip slightly, a very dangerous situation could occur.

When a surgeon is working near essential blood vessels, organs, or other sensitive structures, the slightest misplacement or deviation of a sharp device can result in potentially traumatic injury or death.

The situation can be particularly dangerous if the surgeon is working on the spine or other central nervous system component.

A severed spinal cord, however, often cannot be repaired even with the most advanced procedures currently known.

One such way to avoid this type of injury is to utilize a tool which is suitable for separating two types of matter along an existing seam or connection, but is generally unsuitable for “cutting” into seamless matter.

While blunt dissection is a useful medical practice, the tools for blunt dissection are generally ad-hoc and often ill-suited for the task.

This structure is generally unable to damage an intact organ, blood vessel, or similar structure as the cottonoid simply cannot grip tissue with sufficient force to separate structures without an existing seam, and is generally incapable of generating a new seam or separation on its own.

This makeshift device is unsuitable for the desired task of blunt dissection in many cases and can present dangers when used for such.

In the first instance, the length of the Kelly clamp arm and handle necessarily limit the device to procedures relatively close to the location of the surgeon's hands.

The use of the device as a holders, therefore, is often relatively difficult and creates a less than ideal design.

Further, sufficient depth of tissue dissection is often not possible with such a device and adequate exposure and visibility is therefore often difficult, if not impossible, because the device is held by the palm of the hand and lacks appropriate length and shape to perform the procedure.

Furthermore, a Kelly clamp is liable to become unlocked during a dissection and release the cottonoid into the patient, where it would need to be retrieved from a potentially sensitive area, as Kelly clamps are generally designed for relatively simple release.

Finally, the Kelly clamp device is individually created by a surgical assistant and if the Kelly clamp is not loaded correctly with the cottonoid, or even if it is loaded differently than a surgeon was expecting, the metal tips of the Kelly clamp can come into unintentional contact with the surgical area.

This contact can be adverse as the metal tips can act as a sharp dissection instrument when blunt dissection was intended, thus leading to unanticipated tissue injury and poor wound healing.

This contact can also occur when the surgeon is least expecting it which can lead to an increased likelihood of injury.

While they can resolve some of the concerns from the Kelly clamp device, these devices still have many of the same problems of the Kelly clamp improvised device such as a lack of sufficient length and a design intended for a different purpose.

Further, these disposable cottonoid devices are often weak and can break or bend preventing them from being particularly useful in dissection as they are unable to provide sufficient separation force.

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